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.PATENTED WV MARalsse S n i n Il|| i Ia l T l l Il L Flyy 5 DAVID B. THOMPSON, OF BROOKLYNI NEW YORK'.

vLetters Patent No. 75,220, dated March 3, 1868,

IMPROVEMENT IN ELEVATORS FOR BUILDINGS.

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TO ALL WIIOM IT MAY OONGERN:

Be it known that I, DAVID B. THOMPSON, ot'V Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, a nd State o'fNew York, have invented certain new and useful Imprvclncnts in Elevators for Buildings; and I do hereby declare that the following is a nil, clear, and exact description of the'same,ref`erence.being had to the accompanying drawings', making a portion of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section of an elevator madeaccording,r to my invention,` together with the hatchway ot' the same.

Figure 2 is a horizontal section of the same, taken in the line :c a: of fig. l.

Figure 3 is an inverted transverse section, 4taken in the line yy of iig. 1.

Figure4 is a vertical transverse section, showing the mode of employing a portion of my invention in hatchways having,l hinged or upwardly-moving safety-doors or hatches.

Figure 5 is a side view of the same, taken at right angles to fig. .4.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

This invention'relatcs to thatclass of elevators employed in buildings for carrying goods, persons, 85C., from one story to another, and itsohject is to provide'an eiiicient means of automatically opening and closing the safety-hatches of the hatchway in which the elevator may be situated, by the movement of the elevator, and, furthermoreto insure the stoppage et' the elevator by the hatches inthe event of the breaking ofthe suspending-rope of the elevator.

The invention consists in constructingthe elevator with one or more inclined planes at its upper end, in such manner that, in its upward movement, the planes will operate to open or separateithe safetyhatche s, whether hingedor sliding, to permit the passage of the elevator.

The invention further consists in providing the elevator with one or more inclined planes at itslower end, in such away that the elevator, in its descent, may separate or open the hatches, when the same are designed toslide horizontally, to allow the downward movement of the elevator.

The invention further consists in making the inclined plane or planes last mentioned adjustable upon a vertical axis, so that, when desired, the same may be rendered inoperativewith reference to the. sliding hatches, to the end that in case the suspension-rope should, yfrom any cause, be severed, the farther descent of the elevator may be prevented oy the hatches.

Toi'enable others to lunderstand the construction and operation of my invention, I will proceed to describe it with referenceto the drawings. v

A represents the guides at the corners of the hatchyvay, between which the car or elevator B has its vertical movement. The elevator-B may be of any ordinary or suitable c onstruction, and has attached to its upper end a strong angular plate, A.*, which, having its two edges, a', inclined to each other, as shownV in figs;A 1 and 5, eonstitutesa double inclined plane, te-the apex of which is attached the draught or suspension-rope B, the latter being operated to raiseand lower the elevator hyany ordinary or suitable means. The position ofthe plate or double inclined plane A* is transverse tothe innermost edges of the doors or hatches C, so that the edges or inclined planes a shall act on such edges of the hatches, when the elevator is moved upward, as presently herein set forth. Another plate or double inclined plane, Bk, of similar construction, is attached to the bottom of the elevator, by'mcans of a strong vertical pivot, a, in such manner that it may be` either placed in a. position cor responding to that of the one, Al, at the top of the elevator, or be' turned by means of a crank-handle, a*, at its upper end, at rg'htangles to such position, the purpose'ioiifwhieh will presently herein appear. v Thettvo doors or hatches, vdesigned'to close the hatchway at each door, except when the elevator is passing through the same, are lshown at C, and are preferably madeA to slide horizontally, in suitable guides, and areforced toward each other, to close the hatchway, by spiral springs b, or by suitableY weights, their'ininer edges'comingnearly together at the centre of the hatchway, at which passes the suspension-rope of the elevator, such inner edges of the hatches being furnished preferably with friction-rollers c, against vvhich the double inclined planes act in operating the hatches. i The elevator being situated below the hatches, with the` suspension-rope passing between the latter, is drawn up thereby, whereupon the double inclined plane A?, passing up between the two hatches, forces them apart during vsuch passage. After the elevator has passed up, the hatches are forced inward again, to close the hatchway by the springs '6. The operation of the double inclined plane A* -is substantially the same, when the doors, instead ofk sliding horizontally, are hinged at theirv outer edges,'as shown in iig. 5, the doors in this latter case being swung upward, to open by the action of the double orsingle inclined plane upon their inner edges.

In the descent ofthe elevator, lwhen, as is preiferably the case, thesliding hatches are employed, the double inclined plane B*, on the bottom of the elevator, being placed in a position corresponding to that ot' the upper" one, Ai, passes, descending with the movement of the elevatordown between the hatches, and forces the same apart, to permit the downward movement of the elevator between them, in the saine manner that the one, `A*, operates to force them apart in the upward movement of the elevator, while, by simply turning the double inclined. plane B* upon its pivot, 1, into a position at right angles to that just mentioned, as represented in fig.

4, the said double inclined plane, when-the elevator descends, will pass liatwise through the-slight space between the two hatches C without separating the latter, so that, incase the suspension-ropeshould break, the elevator will he caught or stopped by the hatches, and the fatal or injurious results of the rapid and continued descent of the elevator, which would-otherwise occur under such circumstances, may be thus electually provided against.

In those cases where n single hatclris employed to closc'the hatchway, only n single inclined planewill be required at the'top and bottom respectively of the elevator, such inclined plane operating in the same manner to move the single hatch that the double inclined planes work to operate'the two hatches, as hcreiuhcfore set forth.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The arrangement of a. single or double inclined plane on the upper o1*- lower, or both ends of the elevator, substantially as and for the purpose specified. v

2. The single or double inclined plane, arranged upon a vertical axis, at the bottoni of the elevator, for

operation substantially as and for the purpose set forth. l

' D.B. THOMPSON.

l'rVitnesses:A i

J.l W. CooMBs, A. La Uliano. 

